Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a processing apparatus that processes a substrate.
Description of the Related Art
An inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus is known in which antennas are arranged around a bell jar. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-235545 discloses a plasma processing apparatus in which a vacuum processing chamber is formed by a vacuum container (2) and a bell jar (12) that closes the top of the vacuum container (2). Here, a gas ring (4) is disposed on a flange (24) of the vacuum container (2) via an O-ring, and the bell jar (12) is mounted on the gas ring (4) via an O-ring. Antennas (1a, 1b) are arranged around the bell jar (12), and a high-frequency power supply (10) is connected to the antennas (1a, 1b) via a matching device (matching box) (3).
In processing apparatuses such as inductively coupled plasma processing apparatuses, during processing (for example, deposition processing, etching processing) of substrates, a reaction product accumulates on an inner surface of a bell jar. The reaction product that has accumulated on the inner surface of the bell jar may peel off and fall on a substrate or a substrate supporting unit. Moreover, if the amount of the reaction product that accumulates on the inner surface of the bell jar increases, the conditions under which substrates are processed may change accordingly. To address these issues, a maintenance operation may be performed in which the bell jar is removed from a processing apparatus, cleaned, and attached again to the processing apparatus, or the bell jar is replaced.
However, like the processing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-235545, in cases of processing apparatuses having a configuration in which the bell jar is mounted on a structure (vacuum container) that is situated under the bell jar, in order to remove the bell jar from the structure, it is necessary to remove a matching device and the like disposed on an upper side of the bell jar beforehand. If the matching device is removed and attached again to the processing apparatus after the removal, cleaning, and attachment of the bell jar, the state of coupling of an antenna to plasma changes, and therefore it is necessary to set the conditions for processing such as deposition, etching, or the like over again. This setting of conditions takes a long period of time, resulting in a decrease in productivity. Thus, it should be avoided to remove the matching device from the processing apparatus every time the bell jar is to be cleaned or replaced.